Integration of community pharmacies in COVID-19 vaccination key to UHC— ACPN

The integration of community pharmacies in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country is the first of its kind in public-private engagements towards achieving universal health coverage. The national chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Pharmacist Adewale Oladigbolua, stated this during the flag-off ceremony of the exercise in Abuja.  He said, […]

The integration of community pharmacies in the COVID-19 vaccination programme in the country is the first of its kind in public-private engagements towards achieving universal health coverage.

The national chairman of the Association of Community Pharmacists of Nigeria (ACPN), Pharmacist Adewale Oladigbolua, stated this during the flag-off ceremony of the exercise in Abuja. 

He said, “Here is one public health initiative that is bound to improve access to vaccines, given that community pharmacists are easily accessible, they offer extended hours of service, are trusted health care professionals and as such their inclusion in vaccination processes will drive down vaccine hesitancy and improve coverage tremendously.”

He said COVID-19 took away about 15 million lives globally between 2020 and 2021, adding that 

only about 15.8 per cent of the eligible population has been fully vaccinated in Nigeria.

“We share the joint responsibility to move the figure to 70% to guard against relapse and the emergence of a more virulent strain of the virus,” he said.

The Executive Director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Dr Faisal Shuaib, said community pharmacies are one of the most easily accessible and frequently consulted points of care for health care service delivery by the public sector, especially in underserved populations due to their interconnectedness with the communities.

He said the inclusion of community pharmacies in COVID-19 vaccination would contribute to rapidly increasing vaccination coverage in the country.

 “With over 6000 community pharmacies spread across the country, coupled with the ease of access and long operating hours,” he said.